Tuna, zucchini and basil pasta

By Ric

We love meals that can be quickly whipped together using mostly canned and jarred ingredients from our pantry. This tuna, zucchini and basil pasta is a great example of how to turn a can of tuna, a can of tomatoes and some dried pasta into a delicious and wholesome meal with the addition of only a couple of fresh ingredients.

Because this pasta dish is so simple and tastes so good, it turns up frequently on our dinner table. We’ve only ever tweaked the recipe a couple of times, just because we happened to have other ingredients on hand. One time we used fresh rosemary instead of basil, and another time we added shrimp in place of canned tuna. But we’ve found there’s still nothing quite like tuna with the fresh tomato-basil flavor of the Mediterranean.

serves 4

Spaghetti with a simple and nourishing sauce made with tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, fresh basil and canned tuna.

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 onions — finely chopped
3 zucchinis — diced
5 cloves garlic — finely chopped
28 oz (800g) canned chopped tomatoes
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
14 oz (400g) spaghetti or linguine
12 oz (340g) canned tuna in olive oil — drained and broken into chunks
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
Finely grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

HEAT 3 tablespoons of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. COOK the onion for 6 minutes. ADD the zucchini and cook for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. ADD the garlic and cook a further minute. ADD the tomatoes, salt and pepper, bring to the boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, for 8 minutes. WHILE the sauce simmers, cook the pasta in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water according to package directions. ADD the tuna and basil to the sauce and cook for 2 minutes. REMOVE the sauce from the heat then stir through the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. DRAIN the pasta and toss with the sauce. SERVE sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

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